There are many reasons why you must charge your electric or hybrid car in a wallbox and not in a wall socket. Here are some of the reasons:

• Unlike wall sockets, GARO’s wallboxes are also compatible with load balancing, which means that the charging output adapts to the electricity consumption of other devices without the risk of tripping the main fuse.
• A wallbox is both safer and more secure. A wall socket is not designed for the heavy and sustained loads that occur during electric vehicle charging. Using a standard wall socket can trip fuses, and, in a worst-case scenario, can result in overheating and a fire risk.
• Sweden’s National Electrical Safety Board advises against the regular use of a standard wall socket for charging.
• Using a wallbox charges your car faster.

An electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle has one of two sockets: Type 1 or Type 2.
This is because different countries have different standards, just like when it comes to household wall sockets. The Type 1 charging socket was largely used before the EU decided that the Type 2 connector would serve as the new EU standard. The Type 1 connector is now mainly used by older electric cars. Most electric cars produced in recent years use a Type 2 connector.

Whether a vehicle can be charged with single-phase or three-phase charging and how much power it can handle is determined by the vehicle’s on-board charger and not the wallbox. The main difference between single-phase and three-phase charging is how much electricity the wallbox can provide to the vehicle. A wallbox with single-phase charging only supplies electricity through a single phase, while a wallbox with three-phase charging supplies electricity through three phases, enabling it to charge your vehicle faster.

The fact that you add load balancing when you buy your wallbox is important since it can help you ensure that the total load does not exceed what your home can cope with when you charge your car. It is an important safety aspect and ensures that your house, electrical system and car work together in a safe way. How load balancing works:

You come home from work and connect your car to the wallbox, which puts a load on your home’s electricity consumption. A short time later, you start preparing dinner and turn on the cooker. As the evening air starts to cool, the heat pump also starts. The load balancing system immediately detects any increase in electricity use. GARO Entity Balance then adapts to the greater load by lowering the charging output or fully switches off charging output during that time. Once the household demand decreases, the charging output restarts or is increased again without tripping the main fuse.

Detached home/terraced house: For those who want to buy a wallbox for your house, you can make use of the Grön Teknik tax rebate, which works the same as ROT (Repairs, Conversion, Extension) or RUT (Cleaning, Maintenance and Laundry). The rebate on the wallbox requires that you buy a wallbox together with installation by an electrician. The rebate will then appear directly on your invoice. The total rebate is 50% of the cost for materials and installation. You can find more information about the Grön Teknik tax rebate here.

Housing cooperative/company: If your housing cooperative has decided to install wallboxes or charging posts, you have the option of applying for a Ladda bilen subsidy. The subsidy is a one-off payment of up to fifty percent of the costs eligible for compensation, although no more than SEK 15,000 per charging point. Applications must be made through the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency website, where you can also read more about the subsidy. You can either download an application form or use your BankID to apply directly.

Public places: If you plan to install a public charging station, that is, a charging station that can be accessed by anyone to charge their car, you can apply for a subsidy under the Klimatklivet scheme. For instance, charging posts on a country road, in a multi-storey car park, or at a travel hub, commuter car park, or shopping centre. One of the criteria for being able to apply for a subsidy is that the installation will result in reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and a preliminary study relating to this must be included with the application. You can receive a subsidy of up to 50% of the investment cost. You can learn more about the Klimatklivet scheme and how to apply for a grant on the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency website.

Whether your house is able to charge an electric car depends on a number of different factors. For instance, they type of main fuses, the type of heating system, or the times of the day you usually wash and cook. To avoid the worry of the main fuse being tripped, all our wallboxes can be equipped with load balancing. This ensures that the load being used for charging is adjusted to match current power use elsewhere in the house without overloading the fuse. Contact your electrician for help with your wallbox installation. 

Yes, theoretically, you can install several wallboxes at home. However, you need to consider things such as the size of the main fuse. Generally speaking, if it is only 16 A, then it is not possible. If it is larger than 20 A, it is more likely that you can install more than one wallbox. Contact a certified electrician to investigate your options as well as with the actual installation. 

An RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag is used to identify your status as a user of a charging station and to prevent unauthorised users from using the charging station. It is also a smart way to charge the user for electricity consumption. At charging stations run by operators, you are sometimes issued an RFID tag as a user in their network.

You hold the RFID tag against the charging post’s RFID reader, and if your RFID tag is approved, charging starts. The advantage of RFID is that it enables you to manage who has the right to use the charger and to see who has used it.

Contact your electrician or reseller, who will help you to determine the cause of the problem. If you have a service agreement, contact your service provider.